Process for waterproofing or filling cavities in the ground or in structures



by the current of water.

Patented June. 4, 1935 UNITED STATES ,PATEN OFFlCE Louis Chevrillon, Paris,

France, assignor to The Francois Cementation Company Limited, London, England No Drawing. Application Januaryv 6,

Serial No. 705,640. In France June 2, 1933 3 Claims.

The invention relates to a process for waterproofing or filling cavities in the ground or in masonry, in particular when the cavities, for example, fissures, are swept by very rapid liquid currents (dikes in the sea, dams for torrents and rivers, calcareous soil, underground rivers, etc.

It has already been proposed, for filling cavities in ground or in masonry, to inject therein molten asphalt or bitumen. border. to compensate forlthe loss of heat along the injection tube, the latter is heated electrically, or by a circulation of hot water.

In the case of electric heating, the outfit is of a complicated construction, an electric resist-. ance being mounted at the centre of the tubes, .which latter must be efiiciently insulated. The consumption of energy is relatively large, and requires the installation of electric generators.

-In the case of hot water heating, the plant must be in a position to supply a very great output of water at a very high temperature (about 200 C.) and pressure.

In both cases, it is very difllcult to resume the work if, for any reason, a short-circuit stops I the flow of heating current, or if the water circulation becomes stopped, whereby the bitumen or asphalt sets in the tubes.

The invention has for its object to provide a process by which thesedrawbacks are eliminated,,and which further affords a filling having much better mechanical characteristics than the filling obtained by the known methods.

Said process consists in simultaneously injecting into the cavity to be filled an .emulsion of. bitumen, asphalt, resin, or like solid material adapted to be placed in suspension, on the one hand, and a binding material such as cement, lime, plaster, clay or the like, on the other hand, in such manner that the emulsion shall be embedded by the binding material according as it issues from the injection tube.

. Experience has shown that, with this process, the binding material causes the -instantaneous separation of the solid phase of the emulsion, and forms with this latter a malleable mass of fibrous or cellular texture, having a much greater resistance tocompression thanbitumen or asphalt, and whose .density is far abovethat oiwa'ter; in the'case in which the cavity to be filled is swept over by aviolent current or water, the relatively great density of the' filling aids in preventing the removal of the filling material Accordingtoapartimflarembodimentoithe invention, the operation is performed by the use.

of two concentric tubes, the emulsion being preferably supplied through the central tube, which ends in a small orifice or several small orifices, through which the emulsion or suspension is sprayed; the binding material is forced through the space comprised between the concentric tubes, and, before its exit from the outer tube, it embeds the emulsion sprayed at the outlet of the central tube.

By way of example, the proportions may be such that the resulting mixture will contain about 800 grammes of artificial Portland cement per 1000 to 1200 grammes of asphalt. The emulsion may contain for example 50% of solid material and 50% of liquid, for instance water, and the cement slurry may contain about 1.6 kgs. of cement per litre of water. Experience has shown that, with the proportions aboveindicated, quite satisfactory results are obtained, but it will be understood that these figures may vary considerably, and are only given in order to illustrate the'process according to the invention, without in any way limiting the scope of the latter.

In like manner, the invention is not limited to the use of the particular substances above" enumerated, inasmuch as the asphalt or bitumen may be replaced by any substance, either plastic or not, adapted to be brought in emulsion form, and, after being separated from the liquid phase, to form a filling mass. The binding material may consist of any substance capable of breaking up the emulsion -or suspe n, of agglomerating the particles of the latter as'they separate from the liquid phase, and of imparting to the mass a more or less fibrous texture, thus increasing the resistance to compression. and toughness.

When using a mixture of asphalt or bitumen and cement, the setting takesplace very rapidly. The densityof the .mixture varies from about 1.6.to 1.9, and the resistance to compression is much greater than that of pure bitumen or asph Th emulsion of asphalt, bitumen or the like may be prepared by the processes which are well known to those skilled in the art. It is not indispensable to take any special care to stabilize the emulsion, in con'tradistinction with the processes usually employed for preparing claim as new and desire Patent is:

1. A process for waterproofing and filling cavities in ground and in structures, which comprises simultaneously andseparately injecting into the cavity to be filled a dispersion of binding material and a fine aqueous suspension of bitumen bearing material of such poor stability as to be broken up upon contact with said binding material, whereby the solid phase of the suspension is embedded by the binding substance at the outlet of the injecting means and immediately provides a coherent solid mass.

2. A process for waterproofing and filling cavities in ground and in structures, which comprises simultaneously and separately injecting into the cavity to be filleda dispersion of binding material and a fine aqueous suspension of to secure by Letters asphalt of such poor stability as to be broken up upon contact with said binding material, whereby the solid phase of the suspension is embedded by the binding substance at the outlet of the injecting means and immediately provides a coherent solid mass.

3. A process for waterproofing and filling cavities in ground and in structures, which comprises simultaneously and separately injecting into the cavity to be filled a cement slurry and,

a fine aqueous suspension of asphalt of such poor stability as to be broken up upon contact with cement, whereby the asphalt particles are embedded and agglomerated by the cement and immediately yield a coherent solid mass of homogeneous texture and relatively great density.

LOUIS CHEVRILLON. 

